Farouk Shami is a small man with a big personality and a not inconsiderable mouth. He likes to recall that he left Palestine for America in his youth with about $70 in his pocket; in the intervening 50 years he has invented the world’s first ammonia-free hair colour, made his fortune with a Houston-based hair and skin care company, run for governor of Texas as a Democrat (he wrecked his campaign, he says, by saying that white people don’t want to work in factories) and formed a highly unlikely friendship with Donald Trump.

Indonesians hold $300 billion in Singapore; controversial tax amnesty on the cards.

System launched for equity-linked notes; six banks back new venture.

Opinion is divided on the extent to which private-bank clients should be encouraged to consider FX as an asset class and to look at strategies to generate returns from currency volatility. In any case, most private-bank clients are dollar bulls.

Increased costs outweigh better revenues; technology will take time to repay investments.

Technology versus branches. Is it either/or? Euromoney data correct some misconceptions about sources of growth in the industry and the Europe-US divide.

Euromoney data reveal which cities private banks are looking to expand into next year.

The UK fintech start-up will manage your wealth for a small, transparent fee. Is this the start of a shake-up in the protected world of private banking?

Private equity firms staff up; bank versus non-bank competition increases; talent ‘harder to come by’ than in 2008.

The Swiss bank stands apart from its peers. It helped its clients profit, both in the serene waters of 2019 and in the wake left by Covid-19 as it spread across the world in 2020

“I think this crisis has shown why being with a firm focused on wealth management as a primary business and having a global perspective matters to clients,” says Tom Naratil, co-chief executive of UBS global wealth management (GWM) and president of UBS Americas.

Our review period was a difficult one for private banking operations in the region, as it was worldwide: the fourth quarter wiped out huge chunks of revenues and assets for some international and local players, and it was a year that required sound individual advice for clients.

For the second year running Credit Suisse is Latin America’s best bank for wealth management, this year bolstered by the completion of a three-year turnaround across the whole bank.

With a new strategy of regionalization, integration and innovation, Credit Suisse’s wealth management business has set itself apart from its peers and brought the ethos of Swiss personalized service to an international platform.

Household net financial wealth in CEE has roughly doubled since 2006 and private banking and wealth management services are increasingly in demand across the region.